Case Study and Learning Activity

Case Study

Mr$.$ Johnson has owned his own casual dining restaurant chain for over twenty years. He still remembers graduating from college and taking over the family business. With ten restaurants in Florida, business was steady and the customers seemed loyal. One major concern was that his customers were the same ones. While this was a sign of success in the hospitality industry, newer customers were not really coming in to eat. He reached out to a local marketing organization, which advised him that his restaurants had an older feel to them and recommended that he update his technology to reach and dialogue with younger customers. Mr$.$ Johnson knew next to nothing about technology, although he did learn some in a chain$-$wide upgrade two years prior. He decided to hire a new manager who could evaluate what he needed. The new manager, Sue, was a newly minted graduated of a local hospitality program and was charged with visiting all ten locations and reporting back to Mr$.$ Johnson, who operated out of a small corporate office with three employees $($two accountants, one assistant$).$

Sue found all ten locations very similar as would be expected in a chain restaurant. Therefore, she was able to apply her report on the different processes and how technology was used in each to the organization as a whole. Mr$.$ Johnson, the experienced restaurateur, ran a lean operation with a full$-$time staff consisting

of a GM$,$ three managers, and a staff of fifteen in each of his one hundred$-$seat restaurants.

Host Stand$/$Reservations

A table management system was purchased along with many other pieces of technology two years prior for PCI DSS compliance issues. Mostly it sat idle while the hosts continued with the old white board and dry erase marker system. Reservations were kept by hand in the large reservation book and input into a database weekly after the fact.

Kitchen

A new KMS was also in use and part of the twoyear$-$old upgrade. Chefs, while reluctant at first, have grown to like it$.$ It is mainly used during the operation to track preparation times and task assignments.

Front of House

While the newly updated POS system had the standard touch screen features, the servers saw little difference in putting in orders and in closing out their shifts. Time spent at the POS stations by each server seemed about the same.

Bar

The bar's POS was also updated, as was the printer.

Back Office

The accounting department, which consisted of one part$-$time accountant, since many of the managers had accounting$-$type duties incorporated into their job descriptions $($namely inventory and scheduling$),$ used newer reporting software to communicate with the main office.

Learning Activity

Are all the departments up to date? Why or Why not?

How can the various departments improve their technology or usage?

Are any other additions necessary?

What Web $2\mathrm{.}0$ endeavors should be considered?

Key Terms

Chip and PIN

Conversational Ordering

Delivery Restaurant

Management System $($DRMS$)$

Electronic Cash Register $($ECR$)$ Point$-$of$-$Sale $($POS$)$ System Restaurant Management System $($RMS$)$

Self$-$Ordering Kiosks

Table Management Software

$($TMS$)$

Table Ordering Systems